Schiff's New Role Connects Him to the District

Schiff is probably best known, at least in the D.C. area, for his role on “The West Wing” as the grumpy but endearing White House communications director. In “Hughie,” on stage now at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre, Schiff plays a man remembering his only friend.

“There was this great movement, this urbanization of America, this industrialization and people thought that the city was ... a land of treasure and a lot of people found out this wasn’t the case. And Erie was one of them,” he said. “But, how it relates to today: I just think it’s more of the personal thing. That feeling of being disconnected.”

“Hughie” runs through March 17 at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre, 450 Seventh St. NW.